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Suroosh Alvi, co-founder of VICE magazine, discusses his new documentary, Heavy Metal in Baghdad, its subject – the only Iraqi metal band – Acrassicauda and the war torn times surrounding their creation.

Suroosh Alvi was born in Toronto and studied Philosophy at Montreal’s McGill University. After completing his undergrad he worked at a record label in Minneapolis, taught English in Slovakia, and worked on the railroad in Western Canada. In 1994, halfway through his Master’s in Psychology at the University of Toronto, Suroosh returned to Montreal and co-founded VICE Magazine Publishing. Since then, the company has grown into one of the world’s most influential independent media sources with distribution in 22 countries. Additionally, VICE has diversified into book publishing, television, feature films, and music. Suroosh is the co-author of The VICE Guide to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, is the head of VICE Records, and is a producer for VBS.TV. He has traveled to Pakistan, Afghanistan, the West Bank, Gaza, Iraq and Beirut, corresponding and producing documentaries. Heavy Metal in Baghdad is Suroosh’s feature film directorial debut. Suroosh lives in New York City. His parents are from Lahore, Pakistan.